AMD&mdash;AutoMount Daemon

Here's a way to make system administration easier when dealing with NFS.

Running AMD

To run AMD, you simply type amd at the
prompt, providing the mount point(s) amd the map(s) on the command
line. For example, if the map in listing 1 is named
/etc/map.main, and a map named
/etc/map.silly also exists, to execute AMD you
would type:

amd /u /etc/map.main /silly /etc/map.silly

It is a good idea to include this statement in your rc files.

A number of options are available for the
amd command. Two useful options are the ability
to specify the NFS mount points and the timeout period. The program
amq helps control AMD. For example, amq can force AMD to unmount a
file system and to flush the cache (useful when debugging NFS
problems). The man page for amq provides a complete description of
all its capabilities.

NFS Considerations

Because AMD is just a front end to regular NFS, you have to
worry about the same issues that you would when running NFS
alone—you must ensure that exports and their options are correct.
Explaining NFS is beyond the scope of this article; however, if you
are unfamiliar with the basics of NFS, see the NFS Resources box on
page FIXME.

How to Get AMD

Binaries and patches to port AMD to Linux may be obtained
from sunsite and other sources (see sidebar). AMD has stayed
relatively stable and bug free in the last few years; development
is no longer active. AMD comes with excellent documentation.

Matthew Crosby
is a system administrator and
student at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has administered
practically every system in existence, and has used Linux since the
early .9* days. He can be reached via e-mail at
crosby@nordsieck.cs.colorado.edu.